Skimmer production (or lack thereof)....

tx reef

tx reef

Active Member
How much skimmate do you guys get and what type of skimmer do you have?
My skimmer has a 4" diameter collection cup and it only fills about an inch per week.
Here is my bioload.......
2-Ocellaris Clowns
1-Two Spot Bristletooth Tang
1-Lawnmower Blenny
1-Flasher Wrasse
2-Cleaner Shrimp
1-Coral Banded Shrimp
Several soft and lps corals.
Several sps corals.
I feed my fish daily and feed Kents Chromomax Phytoplankton and Kents Zoomax Zooplankton every other day.
I do a 6 gallon water change every week.
I have approx. 85lbs of lr in the display and a DSB and chaeto in the fuge.
My tank is a 55 gallon that has been set up for about 18 months.
The skimmer I have is a Queen Turbo Skimmer. It is only 11" tall. Should I get another skimmer? What would you recommend?
I am looking at a Coralife SS 65. I cannot fit anything taller than 18" under my stand.
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
How big of a tank?
55 gal. 1.5 yrs. setup
To me your bioload is not that drastic. I always go WAY overboard on my skimmer though. As an example: I have a CCS 220 on my 125 gallon. Pulls plenty of crud, maybe 1" per week in a 1 gallon jug. I also have to clean the collection cup and inside tube as they are solid caked with gunk about everyother week.
It all depends too if you are wet skimming or dry skimming.
 
crzyfshygy

crzyfshygy

Member
Here's the thing....there are a lot of awesome expensive skimmers out there and some pull out alot of crap, but its not the quanity its the quality. You do not want(atleast I do not) a full cup of lightly brown skimmate in one week. My skimmer is an ETSS and the cup does not get full each week....but the foam is thick and the sides of the skimmer are lick paint stuck to the wall. Very thick nasty crap on the sides. Most of the time with the big full cup your pulling out alot of water with it. To each is own though
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
I have a Red Sea and mine pulls out very little but what it does pull is like posted above thick foam that is just gross and smells like sewage...
it takes about 3 weeks to fill a 2liter bottle but the water in it is Dark Yellow
 
dr. evil

dr. evil

Member
Well i finally got my css125 working right no more microbubbles. and its pulling out this stuff that is so nasty i mean its black but with that said now all my live rock is turning brown its so frustrating so now i gotta figure out why this is happening. But i am satisfied with the skimmer so far ive had it going right for almost a week and the collection cup is about 3/4's full now with the blackest nastiest stuff you can imagine its really amazing. Now if i could only get rid of the brown crap on my rocks.
 
lubeck

lubeck

Active Member
i love the asm products have an asm3 on my 180gal system. should of went bigger... i always think i should have gone bigger... my wife says the same thing..he he he.
 
dragonladylea

dragonladylea

Member
The CSS 65 is what I run on my 55 and I love it talk about soup and dont let your nose anywhere near it!! Mine works like a demon and I get about a 1/2 to 3/4 every three days. Added cleaner clams to the fuge and just tested my water today - water is as close to perfect parameters as you can get.
 
reefiness

reefiness

Active Member
i have a proclear aquatics pro series wet dry 150 which comes with a skimmer, and my skimmer fills up a 2 liter bottle in about 1 week and the skimate is a dark brown color. And i have a huge Bio load and have never had any problems, i think the skimmer it came with is a monster. :cheer:
 
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